Thai Internet 'not free': Freedom House

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Thai Internet 'not free': Freedom House - The Nation

Thai Internet 'not free': Freedom House

Pravit Rojanaphruk
The Nation September 28, 2012 1:00 am

Thailand is ranked along with 10 other nations as "not free" when it comes to the Internet, according to a new survey by the US-based Freedom House.

The ranking by the democracy and human-rights advocacy group places Thailand alongside such countries as Saudi Arabia, Uzbekistan and Belarus.

In Thailand, Freedom House cited the blocking of political websites, pro-government commentators dominating online discussions, increasing surveillance or restrictions on online anonymity, arrests of bloggers and Internet users for posting on political and social issues, and technical attacks against government critics.

Cases highlighted in the report include people arrested and detained under the <redacted> law and the Computer Crimes Act. Among them is computer programmer Surapak Phuchaisaeng, who has been detained since September 2011 after being accused of being behind a defamatory Facebook account and is now awaiting his verdict.

In the region, Indonesia ranks ahead of Thailand as being partly free.

Estonia was ranked as enjoying the greatest freedom of expression on the Web, followed by the US.

Tunisia and Myanmar showed the most improvement over previous surveys.

China, Cuba and Iran are the three countries with the most-restricted Internet.

China continues to have one of the world's most-advanced Internet control systems, with measures that include filtering technology and hacking. Freedom House believes that China is moving close to establishing a "national Internet".

In Iran, violation of the Internet law is punishable by death, and three bloggers and IT professionals have been sentenced to death.

In Asia, with 43 countries and territories that are home to 3.9 billion people, 44 per cent of the Internet is free while only five per cent of the press is free, the report states.

In general, paid commentators and hijacking attacks are proliferating, the report states. Government critics also face politically motivated cyber attack in 19 out of the 47 countries surveyed.

However, the report did note a "significant uptick" in civic activism on the Internet.